You guys are so thick. You don't get the point. There's a chance we lost in this matter, if Matthews develops into a great player. Apparently, Portland is very high on him. I still say a good GM who knows how to negotiate could've gotten Matthews for a lot less. Matthews himself has admitted this. KOC is just good at covering his ineptitude.
Again, you're looking at the short term, plus there are other factors to consider besides money here. It's not about how much money, but also how it affects your career, and in the long term this does affect how much money you make. I don't see this as a good career decision for Matthews, and now he is realizing it. It also probably is not going to be a good decision long-term for the Jazz. Like I said, Raja will be good for a couple of years. But I can't wait to see you guys eat your words down the line.
My main gripe is the reactive and not proactive approach. Hindsight will always be easier to understand details that weren't there at the time this all went down in real time. I think KOC needs to at least put an offer out, even if it's a low ball. Had they offered $2mill Portland would have been less inclined to be so aggressive perhaps in their raise. This could have amounted to Utah matching a lesser offer than what they were forced to decide on. All in all, it's not a catastrophic loss, but I think it could have been far better handled. I think Wes wanted to be here... But congrats to him on his pay raise. He'll be as great as Portland will allow him to be I think. But he woulda been better here fo sho.